GB2186614A

GB2186614A - A haulage vehicle for bridge parts

Info

Publication number: GB2186614A
Application number: GB08703372A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Guenter Beier
Original assignee: Salzgitter AG
Current assignee: Salzgitter AG
Priority date: 1986-02-14
Filing date: 1987-02-13
Publication date: 1987-08-19
Also published as: GB8703372D0; DE3604621A1; FR2594456A1

Abstract

A haulage vehicle (1) for bridge deck sections (3), especially cantilever deck sections, wherein each section is held in a transfer frame (2, 16, 17) on the vehicle and is movable into a predetermined laying position (4) from which it can be moved off the vehicle with the aid of a conveying device (2) mounted on the vehicle or by a gripping and/or transporting device (12) on a laying boom (7) and can, in one operation, be joined and laid. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Haulage vehicle for bridge parts This invention relates to a haulage vehicle for bridge parts, especially for loading and unloading separable bridge deck or cantilever deck sections which are joined end-to-end in the finished bridge or cantilever deck.

It is known from the military engineering art to use bridges formed of separable bridge parts for the purpose of bridging waterways and valleys. Such bridges comprise a cantilever deck constructed of individual sections joined to one another. Joinable bridge sections each having two-track decks are pushed on to the top of the cantilever sections. Such a separable bridge is known from, for example, DE-B-31 38 853.

Although the laying of these bridges by pushing the joined cantilever deck sections forwards on to a boom mounted on a tracked or wheeled vehicle appears feasible, the transfer of the cantilever deck sections from the haulage vehicle to the boom by means of a mobile crane is troublesome and time-consuming. Moreover, problems can arise in bringing three vehicles. i.e., the laying vehicle, the crane-carrying vehicle and the haulage vehicle, into their most advantageous positions for the bridge-laying operation. Unloading the bridge parts from the haulage vehicle by means of a crane controlled by a crane operator and the transfer of the cantilever deck sections to the boom of the laying vehicle is in any case very complicated.It calls for the employment of additional auxiliary labour which is not only troublesome in itself but also, in the danger area of the crane, may put their safety at risk.

It may be possible to dispense with the separate crane vehicle if, when laying a bridge, a wheeled vehicle is used for this purpose.

However, this does not overcome the other disadvantages referred to. Further, after the cantilever deck has been laid, the said disadvantages recur in laying the bridge deck sections on to the cantilever deck. Another complication is that the methods used for joining the ramp sections and intermediate sections of the bridge and of pushing the joined sections forwards on to the laid cantilever deck are not at all advantagecus, the reason being that each cantilever deck requires, at least in the ramp section locatable on the near bank, a power unit for joining the sections and pushing them forwards. This is expensive because the power unit must be left with the bridge, even after it has been laid, and cannot therefore be used for laying other bridges.

It is an aim of the present invention to provide a vehicle for hauling, loading and unloading bridge deck and cantilever sections which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and by means of which the laying of separable bridge parts can be improved.

Another aim is to simplify the technical complication of existing methods and to dispense with a crane. Further aims are to reduce the need for auxiliary labour and to lay the bridges more securely and more quickly.

With these aims in mind, the invention is directed to a haulage vehicle for bridge parts, especially for loading and unloading separable bridge deck or cantilever deck sections which can be joined end-to-end, in which a transfer frame for a number of bridge and/or cantilever sections is mounted on the vehicle to permit a respective deck section held in a laying position to be removed from the frame and to be joined to another deck section, or other deck sections, already disposed in a laying direction on a boom or other support and, once the respective deck section has thus been moved, to allow the next following deck section to be moved into its laying position.

A vehicle of this construction makes it possible to transfer, entirely under power, the bridge deck and/or cantilever deck sections to a follow-on laying boom or other support. In addition to this, the sections held in their laying position so as to form the ramp section to be located on the far bank, the required intermediate sections and the ramp section locatable on the near bank, are in intermittent steps removed from the vehicle's transfer frame, gripped by a transporting device incorporated in the boom or other support, joined at their ends, and pushed forwards. A very long cantilever deck can thus be laid in a single operation entirely under power and without any need for the employment of auxiliary personnel.

Two examples of vehicles in accordance with the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view of one vehicle with cantilever deck sections loaded in its transfer frame and in the process of being transferred to a boom; Figure 2 is a rear view of the vehicle shown in Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a rear view of a second form of vehicle having cantilever deck sections positioned in a rotatable frame.

Figure 1 illustrates diagrammatically a haulage vehicle 1 having a conveying device 2 mounted thereon which, together with frame members 16 and a lifting device 17, forms a transfer frame loaded with cantilever deck sections 3. The main function of the conveying device 2, when the cantilever deck is being laid, is to move the individual deck sections 3 on the vehicle 1, one after the other, into the required laying position 4. The conveying device 2, in conjunction with laying means 5, makes it possible to unload-under power from the vehicle 1 the cantilever deck sections 3 loaded thereon, to join them together endto-end, and to push the deck thus formed across a valley or waterway 6 to be bridged.

The initial step in laying the cantilever deck consists in positioning the laying means 5 at or near the location 6 to be bridged and to bring the boom or other support 7 of the laying means into line with the desired direction of the bridge. On completion of this initial step, the vehicle 1 with the deck sections 3 loaded thereon is reversed up to the laying means 5 in such a way that a ramp section 9 in its laying position 4 will be aligned with the boom 7 and thus with the laying direction 10.

The conveying device 2 includes lateral stanchions 8 by means of which the deck sections 3 held aiongside the vehicle's two sides can be moved under power, for example hydraulically by a cylinder-and-piston unit 11, to a position above and parallel to the vehicle's longitudinal axis. However, it is necessary, prior to unloading the deck sections 3 located at the bottom, to raise slightly the deck sections 3 lying above them. This is effected with the aid of the height-adjustable frame members 16 including their respective lifting devices 17 which are, for example, worm-drive arrangements. Once they have thus been raised, the bottom deck sections 3 are freely movable.

The vehicle 1 also includes, for unloading and laying the cantilever deck sections, means (not illustrated in the drawings) arranged to push the ramp section 9, which is in its laying position 4, towards the boom 7. A transporting device 12 incorporated in or mounted on the boom 7 then grips the forwardly-pushed ramp section 9 and pulls it off the vehicle 1.

The vehicle need not therefore be equipped with means for pushing forwards the deck section held on the vehicle in the laying position 4 where the transporting device 12 on the boom 7 is fitted with suitably constructed gripping elements so that it can pull the respective deck section out of the vehicle 1.

Another deck section 13 can be conveyed with the aid of the lateral stanchions 8 and the hydraulic cylinder-and-piston unit 11 into its unobstructed laying position 4 as soon as the ramp section 9 of the cantilever deck has come to rest in its joining position on the boom 7. Once the deck section is in its laying position, it can, as described above, be pushed out of the vehicle and/or be pulled forwards by the transporting device 12 of the boom 7. As the deck section 13 is moved forwards, the free end 14 thereof and that of the ramp section 9 are automatically joined and both sections together pushed forwards.

A further deck section can then be moved in like manner into the laying position 4, be pushed and/or pulled forwards in the laying direction 10, be joined at its front end to the deck section 13, and both sections together be pushed forwards.

Once the deck sections at the bottom of the vehicle have been unloaded, the sections at the top can be lowered by the height-adustable frame members 16 into the laying position 4 at the bottom and can then be unloaded as previously described. It is to be understood that, when it is desired to dismantle the bridge, the cantilever deck sections may be re-loaded, under power, on to the vehicle 1 by reversing the steps described above.

If desired, it is possible to dispense with the frame members 16 and their associated lifting devices 17. In this instance, the centrally-held deck sections are removed one after the other from the laying position 4, the sequence being such that the sections held in the upper plane are unloaded first and the sections held in the lower plane thereafter.

Once this has been done, the deck sections held one above the other at the vehicle's sides are moved, with the aid of the extended stanchions 18 and the cylinder-and-piston unit 11, to the centre of the vehicle into the free laying position 4.

Figure 3 shows a different from of vehicle wherein the transfer frame comprises a drum 1 5 which is rotatable about a longitudinal axis and in which the various deck sections 3 are held. The rotatable drum 15 is mounted on the vehicle 1 in V-shaped bearing brackets 19 secured to the vehicle frame. Rotation of the drum 15 renders it possible to move each deck section 3 quickly into the laying position 4 and to unload it without difficulty in the manner already explained.

The vehicles thus described permit bridges to be laid quickly across wide waterways, and this with a small work force. Moreover, the vehicle illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 makes it possible to lay a 42 m cantilever deck in a single operation.

Claims

1. A haulage vehicle for bridge parts, especially for loading and unloading separable bridge deck or cantilever deck sections which can be joined end-to-end, in which a transfer frame for a number of bridge and/or cantilever sections is mounted on the vehicle to permit a respective deck section held in a laying position to be removed from the frame and to be joined to another deck section, or other deck sections, already disposed in a laying direction on a boom or other support and, once the respective deck section has thus been moved, to allow the next following deck section to be moved into its laying position.

2. A haulage vehicle according to claim 1, in which the deck sections are horizontally and/or vertically movable on the vehicle by a conveying device to bring them into and, conversely, out of a laying position.

3. A haulage vehicle according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which, upon removal of the first deck section from its laying position, further deck sections are movable, one after the other, by a conveying device which is power operable.

4. A haulage vehicle according to claim 2 or claim 3, in which the conveying device on the vehicle serving to move the deck sections into the laying position is hydraulically or electri cally operable.

5. A haulage vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, in which the transfer frame on the vehicle is a drum which is rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis and in which a number of deck sections are storable.

6. A haulage vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, in which the position of the transfer frame on the vehicle is horizontally and/or vertically adjustable.

7. A haulage vehicle according to claim 1 substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.